Brickyard 400: Jimmie Johnson Reaches Career Milestone with Win

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Jimmie Johnson’s fourth career Brickyard 400 win Sunday may have been his most memorable.

Johnson joined Jeff Gordon as the only four-time winners at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition, he has kissed the bricks those four times in a seven-year stretch. It took Gordon ten.

J.J. led the race for 99 of the 160 laps, capped by passing Greg Biffle with 29 to go and never looking back. The No. 48 car continues a strong season campaign in this year’s major races; he’s won two of four this season (Darlington, Brickyard).

For a relatively smooth victory, Johnson sounded overwhelmed to join esteemed company with Gordon:

“To come here and win is a huge honor," said Johnson, who led 99 of 160 laps. "Then to have four —four wins!— I'm at a loss for words.” – via LA Times

J.J. currently ranks fourth in the Sprint Cup Standings, but winning the Brickyard 400 has been a good indictor of Cup title winners in the past. Since the first Brickyard in 1994, eight of the last 18 winners have gone onto win the Cup championship.

Therefore, Johnson may be on his way to an even bigger title. He gave his thoughts on the correlation between winning the race and the cup:

"This track is so difficult," Johnson said. "We run on it once a year. The teams that are on top of their game end up successful here. I think that's why guys that have won this race have won the championship, because that team that given year is on top of what's going on."- via News Journal

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Regardless of how the Cup standing shake out, the Brickyard belongs to J.J. once again. The bricks have become a longtime girlfriend in an on-and-off relationship.

That fourth kiss looks pretty sweet. Only Jeff Gordon can say he knows that feeling.